Exclusive | Brutish $100M Newport Beach bank fraudster used armed thugs to seize hotels in ruthless campaign of terror, courts docs reveal
The Orange County financier arrested Wednesday for allegedly conning a bank out of almost $100 million is accused of using a series of strong-arm tactics during his campaign of terror — including deploying armed henchmen to seize hotels and a restaurant in a posh Southern California enclave.Indian-born businessman Mahender Makhijani, 44, was pulled out of his tony Newport Beach mansion Wednesday morning by gun-toting federal agents who took him into custody for allegedly defrauding a local bank out of nearly $100 million in a complex real-estate scheme.Last month an arbitrator found the Makhijani — who’s alleged to have a taste for sex and drug parties —liable for a more than $1.3 billion in damages over his real estate dealings with Laguna Beach businessman Mohammad Honarkar.Court documents in both cases allege that he ruthlessly used threats, intimidation and even violence to gain an upper hand on business rivals, including Honarkar.
The criminal complaint against Makhijani says he hired a mobile billboard in 2023 to humiliate a business associate, identified as Honarkar, while the civil case against him details how he used the same tactic against local politicians.Honarkar detailed the threats Makhijani allegedly made against him in court documents.“He’s going to destroy my reputation in Laguna.He’s going to make sure my kids and my grandkids are on the street.
He’s going to make my life miserable,” said the associate, identified as Honarkar.“That’s what he said.”Around this time, “mobile billboards depicting [Honarkar] and others’ faces were driven around Laguna Beach, suggesting that [Honarkar] and others were engaged in corruption,” the documents state.As the conflict between Makhijani and Honarkar escalated, “a group of armed individuals working on behalf” of Makhijani “entered and took control” of numerous properties operated by Honarkar, “including the Hotel Laguna, a Holiday Inn Hotel in Laguna Beach, and severa...